Whatever happened to the McCarthurs and the Pattons

[Undertoad]

tw, that's why I said "the heart" - Iraq is not "the heart", and Iran isn't even all that Middle-Eastern at all.

Jag, every culture has a different level of productivity, and that level is determined roughly by a combination of the government in place and the character of the people. It's not racist to notice that some nations are productive while others sit there and stagnate. Here is Ralph Peters' "Seven Signs of Unproductive States":

# Restrictions on the free flow of information.
# The subjugation of women.
# Inability to accept responsibility for individual or collective failure.
# The extended family or clan as the basic unit of social organization.
# Domination by a restrictive religion.
# A low valuation of education.
# Low prestige assigned to work.

It's not hard to see why these cultural factors would keep a people back. It's not racism to simply notice that cultural factors prevent a nation from becoming productive. The Arabic world has unfortunately started with a very tribal character and then has been gifted the greatest gift the planet has to offer: oil. Without getting them to send their kids to school, stop keeping the women at home, and stop blaming everyone else (the jews, the west) for their collective failure, further gifts would be a waste.